Battle Region
by GreenLavender
Summary: Ash has been missing for 7 long years, and even so, his former friends and rivals all head off to a new region! But this league isn't normal. After Gym Battles and Elite Fours, they must beat past the Frontier Brains to go against the Unnamed Champion! Will they be able to do it?
1. 1: Ferries and Families

**Note: Made up ages. Many, many OCs but only around 3-6 are important. Paul is a major character and almost everyone is OOC. Max is rather ignorantly weak. Please refrain from insulting this fanfiction with flames. Literary criticism will be accepted.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Ferries and Families**

Nineteen year old Paul Shinji stood at the ferry's railing, silently enjoying the breeze that blew towards him as the ship headed towards his destination. He wore a dark purple hoodie that faded to a lavender color at the hem over a white t-shirt. He also had on black jeans and black sneakers. Paul now stood at the proud height of 6"2 and it was clear he had trained alongside his Pokemon. He was enjoying the scenery... Well, that was until he heard an irritat_ing_ and irritat_ed_ shriek.

"EEEEEK! EW, GET THAT- THAT- THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" A high pitched screech came from the ferry's battlefield - which was located on the opposite side of the ferry _and_ indoors. Paul groaned and held his ears. Why had those idiots followed him in the first place? Oh yes, they had heard of a region with many powerful trainers and an upcoming tournament and wanted to continue their happy little adventures together.

'Nice going, Paul,' The trainer sarcastically told himself. 'Great, now you're talking to yourself; what has training with that kid done to you?' His thoughts were broken by a jubilant greeting.

"Hey Paul!" He didn't need to turn around. He knew who it was. Or, rather, who they all were.

Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Max, Brock, Cilan, and Gary travelled together beginning several years ago. At times, they ran into Ritchie, Barry, the Unovian Bianca, Luke, Stephan, Cameron, Harley, Solidad, Zoey, Nando, Kenny, Conway, Burgundy, or Georgia and would travel with them. It was an unusual group of rivals but friends none the less.

Brock Harrison returned to his family and studied in the field of medicine for Pokemon, becoming a fine breeder and doctor. After working at Pewter Medical Office for Pokemon, a relatively small branch next to the PokeCenter, he decided that he wanted to help Pokemon outside of Kanto after his adventures with Ash. So he traveled to Cerulean City, in search for Misty. Forrest was, and is, doing a great job as the gym leader, anyways.

Misty's eldest sister now helped at the Cerulean gym from time to time - finally feeling sorry for her. Daisy Waterflower was a good and reliable trainer, just somewhat girly and far too self conscious. Now, Misty was allowed to go on another journey with Brock, who was quick to call May and Dawn.

May and Max Maple were both pursuing what they liked to do most - competing in contests and battling. Max, now 16, had gotten his trainer's pass as soon as he had turned 10. May had won many contests and 3 Grand Festivals in the different regions they were held in. Max had placed top 16 in the Ever Grande Conference at Hoenn and top 8 in the Silver Conference at Johto.

Dawn Berlitz grew up to be a fine coordinator, still determined to defeat the Princess of Hoenn. Her Buneary, now a Lopunny, and the still unevolved Piplup were both featured in many articles for the Hearthome Collection and were treated very much like celebrities.

Iris and Cilan had returned to their respective homes, the Village of Dragons and Striaton City. The purple haired dragon trainer got her beloved Axew to become a Haxorus whilst Cilan became a stronger gym leader, as well as Cress and Chili. Dawn was the one to find them walking together at Nimbasa City.

Paul? Well, he didn't even like them in the first place so what was the point? It was usually the cocky and persistent group that forced him into battling their weak, pathetic Pokemon when he could be getting some real training done.

When the group reached him, he scowled and ignored their rants on 'Misty was the one who had nearly destroyed his ears because of a bug type'... Or something along those lines. He wasn't the same, abusive trainer he used to be, but he still hated the gang. He rolled his eyes but remained silent at their rambling and looked out towards the land that came closer into view.

'I'm back,' The young adult thought to himself. As the ferry got closer and closer to the docks, he could make out two familiar faces. One was waving to him enthusiastically while the other had their arms crossed with a smile. Paul gave a small grin towards, them - so small it could be barely called a grin.

"Woah, look at the buildings, guys!" Max Maple yelled, pointing out towards the large city.

"It says here that Oresha is the biggest city in the Batoru region," The all too familiar breeder commented. Paul rolled his eyes, "You might want to get a better book or better eyes because Oresha is the second largest city in Batoru but is the most populated."

"How do you know that, Paul?" Gary pondered aloud.

"Been here," He simply responded as the ship stopped at the port. As soon as the captain said that the passengers were allowed to get off, he slung his black book bag on his shoulder and walked out.

When he did so, a pink, black, and purple blur all in one almost knocked him down with a hug. "Paul, you're here!"

The figure did not back up from the tight embrace but he still saw a familiar, and very pretty girl who stood at the height of 5"6 with long, lilac hair that was just above her waist and a soft, obsidian colored right eye that matched her cheeky grin - her other eye being covered by her lilac side bangs. She wore a pink, off-shoulder mini dress with black leggings that reached her knees. Over the dress was a thin, black vest. She also had on a beige beret and black flats along with pink fingerless gloves. Next to her was an unusually small Smeargle (around 2"9 when most are 3"2) riding on top of an Absol.

"How was your trip?" A male voice asked. Going towards where the two were was a man with a pink dress shirt, beige trousers, and black dress shoes. He had darker purple hair than Paul's and was slightly taller than he was. Today, he didn't have his mint colored apron on.

"It was annoying, Reggie, and nice to see you too, Rachel," Paul replied giving the girl a small smile. The girl, now known as Rachel, clung on to his left arm with sparkling eyes. "Do you have your Honchkrow with you? Do you?"

"Yeah, right here," He replied as he threw the Pokeball into the air. "Krow!"

Rachel seemed content with just seeing the dark type Pokemon. "So cool!" She cried as the bird landed on her shoulder. Reggie put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, "You've been taking a good care of him, Paul."

The Absol and Smeargle walked over to Rachel with obvious frowns. She laughed nervously and said, "Sorry guys, but you don't get to see the best Honchkrow all the time!" Said Pokemon gave a small cry of pride at this.

Just then, Reggie seemed to notice two recognizable people, "Well if it isn't Brock and Dawn." Rachel and Paul turned around and had very different reactions. One sighed and dropped his head down while the other squealed lightly at the sight of a dark kitten that was in one of their arms.

"What an adorable Purrloin!" The girl complimented, petting the cat Pokemon in Max's arms, behind its ears who purred happily in response.

"Hey, who are you?!" Max asked, protective of the Unova native Pokemon but soon blushed slightly at the sight of the beautiful girl. Rachel sheepishly scratched the back of her head and giggled softly. "Sorry about that. I get really excited when I see a dark type Pokemon. Like Honchkrow here," She apologized, pointing to the dark type who was now perched on top of her head, "My name is Rachel. I'm a Pokemon artist as well as a trainer and coordinator. I also hope to become a breeder!"

The groups eyes widened at the list. "That's a lot of responsibility. You can do all that?" She shrugged, "It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. No need to worry!"

Dawn's eye twitched at her catchphrase, "Hey, that's my line!"

"Is it now, Miss Dawn Berlitz?"

"...Huh? How did you know my name?"

"Oh, doesn't everyone? Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town who won only 1 Grand Festival in her nine years of traveling in becoming a coordinator."

"Only! What do you mean? I won 2, thank you very much!" Dawn corrected, furious at the insult.

"Ah, I did not mean it in such a rude way. I meant that you won that one Festival easily." Dawn's face went a bright red then, "W-What!"

"Don't worry, we have plenty of contests here in Batoru as well, I'm sure you'll win at least one out of the many."

Still enraged, Dawn yelled, "Well I'm sure you won't beat me or May!" Pointing at the latter.

Rachel only smiled gracefully at the impudent comment before responding, "I look forward to it, Miss Berlitz, Miss Maple."

She started to walk away, with Honchkrow still on her head and a small wave when Brock had pulled her hand back to an embrace.

"Oh, your ebony eyes gleam beautifully like the night sky; a true gift from Arceus, himself!" Brock complimented, dazed.

"U-um, that's very kind of you, sir but..." Rachel started to say, only to be cut off by Paul and three Pokemon.

"Get. Off. Her," Paul warned with a dangerous tone. Absol growled ferociously with Smeargle gotten off of him - who was trying desperately to swat the breeder away. Honchkrow flew around them, calling out its name madly.

"U-uh, yeah, sorry..." Brock said, backing away slowly. Rachel beamed, "Not a problem, nice meeting you!"

As Reggie, who was chuckling at them, Paul, and Rachel walked off with Absol, Smeargle, and Honchkrow following, Brock yelled, "WHY CAN'T I GET GIRLS?"

Oh, if only he knew that it wasn't Paul who had the lilac haired girl.

* * *

"So, how's the studio?" Paul asked Rachel. It was now dinner time and the trio sat at a table in the Pokemon Center cafeteria, eating. Rachel had released her Absol and Smeargle while Reggie had out his Staraptor, Luxray, and Drapion, who Rachel had attacked with a hug. Paul had transferred his Pokemon to her art studio two days ago and only had his Honchkrow - who was not on her head anymore - Gastrodon, and Froslass, who, although not a dark type, was also petted.

Rachel smiled at his question, "It's great! And your Pokemon are fitting in just fine as are Reggie's. And you don't have to worry about a thing. Hilbert, you know him, said he would feed them tonight. I'll go call him after we've eaten."

Paul nodded before turning to his brother, "When did you get here from Veilstone?" Reggie replied, "Two days ago. I came by plane after I called you when you were in Lumiose City."

"Oh. Anyways, it's been a while since I came here. How's the league?"

Rachel laughed, "We've survived without you. The challengers can barely get past the gym leaders and those who do can't defeat Leaf. So Red and I have no challengers. Neither do the twins or the other elites for that matter."

"Ah. How is he?"

"Surprisingly well. Have I ever told you about his Scrafty? It's adorable! And his Krookodile too!" Rachel gushed.

Reggie laughed at his the girl's rambling about dark types and ruffled her lilac hair whist his younger brother face palmed at the redundancy. "How about your traveling? How was it?" He asked Paul.

He shrugged, "Boring. Annoying wannabes asking for a battle. I've defeated every regional champion, including Cynthia, and have been offered to be their new one but what's the point? More paperwork. Rather just be here or at Veilstone."

"Wait, how about that group at the port? Are they going to challenge the gyms?"

"Probably."

With a small giggle, Rachel got up to call her friend while saying, "They're in for a surprise."

* * *

"I challenge you to a battle!"

The trio turned around and saw Max pointing a finger at Rachel.

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

"Why?" She questioned innocently.

"Because you seem to know a lot about us so I want to know what Pokemon you have besides that Absol and Smeargle!"

"For one thing, my Smeargle doesn't battle. And you won't be able to see past my Absol. You can use all 6 and I can still win by only using him. Wanna bet?"

"That's quite a bet you're putting on the line. Max placed top 16 in the Ever Grande Conference and top 8 in the Silver Conference," Brock answered as Max held his head up in pride, "He may have loss but he defeated 3 of Wallace's Pokemon as well."

Rachel calmly smiled, "Well then, lets put that talent to the test. Will you be so kind to be the referee, Mr. Gary Oak?"

He blushed slightly at the girl's sweet smile, "Sure. This is a 6 on 1 single handicap battle against Max Maple and Rachel, begin!"

"Go, Sceptile!"

"I ask for your aid in this battle, Absol!"

"Use a direct razor leaf!" Max called out to his Pokemon.

Rachel ordered simply, "Night Slash, followed by a Fire Blast!" The disaster Pokemon reacted by jumping as his horn glowed white and then released a Night Slash below him while in air. Then, from his mouth, came a very fast Fire Blast - almost going unnoticed.

Max gaped at the sight of his fainted Sceptile. The battle had not lasted a minute and his first starter Pokemon was already down! "Sceptile, return!" His eyes narrowed at her smile. "You're new but... Purrloin, go! Aerial Ace!"

Absol waited until the attack nearly reached him and jumped into the air and used his horn to make an 'X' shape before launching the attack. Rachel hadn't called out an attack but the Disaster Pokemon had defeated the cat on its own! Purrloin had also fainted and Max scowled as he called back his Pokemon.

Looking over at the other side, he saw that the girl's eyes were closed. 'What's she planning? Is she like Anabel - using psychic attacks?' He shook the thought off and reached for his belt. "Let's go, Gallade!" The blade Pokemon looked at its opponent with slightly curious eyes.

On the sidelines, Brock and Gary analyzed the battle, if it could even be called one, closely. "She must have trained her Absol to protect itself without orders being given out," Brock commented. Gary nodded in agreement, "It gives them a pretty fair advantage too."

"Gallade, be careful! This ones tough!" With that, the Pokemon got into a battle stance. "Psycho Cut!"

Rachel's eyes opened and she sighed, face palming with slight annoyance. "Take it." Absol stood where it was and let the attack hit him. Max cheered, "A direct hit, no way your Absol could take that!"

However, when the dust had cleared, the disaster Pokemon was merely at the same position as he was in with no sign of pain.

"What?!"

"Are you sure you are who you say you are?"

"What?"

"Someone please explain it to him," An annoyed Rachel asked.

Cilan laughed nervously and answered, "Absol is immune to psychic type attacks because it is a pure dark type. And by the looks of it, this one doesn't have a Ring Bell and you didn't use Miracle Eye, an item and attack that causes Absol to be slightly damaged by psychic attacks."

Rachel sighed, "You know what to do, Absol."

"Sol."

"Yeah, well, I haven't had a challenge for a long time and I thought he was a little better than this."

"Sol absol."

"Eh, who knows. Anyways, finish it."

From his mouth, Absol shot a quick Shadow Ball which finished Max's best Pokemon in an instant.

"I think we should stop, Max. Your Pokemon are damaged enough already and Absol's bored. Plus, I need to get home. Now. Pokemon don't wait forever, you know."

The young trainer exclaimed, "No, I need to finish this battle!"

"Max Maple, if you want to survive around here, I suggest you train harder than you ever had. We're not called the 'Battle Region' for nothing."

"Hmph, I could've beat you! They weren't fully healed, I'm sure of it!"

A sigh escaped from her mouth. "Than that was your fault for not being capable of helping your Pokemon get better. It is only my advise for you to challenge me when you're ready," Rachel suggested, already walking away.

"This battle is now over...?" Gary announced, slightly confused.

Reggie strode over to the defeated boy and put a hand on his left shoulder. "Max, I don't know you very well, as it is my first time meeting you but you're definitely not bad at battling but you need to study on types. You also need a little defense practice. Those attacks shouldn't have caused your Pokemon to faint one hit KO. How long have you been traveling?"

"Around 4 years."

"Well, than you definitely should've known that. and let me give you a piece of advice; research on who your opponents are before you battle them." The breeder said, before catching up with the two teens that were already far from the field.

* * *

"What?!" Max shouted in realization.

"There is no way that kid is Paul's sister," Iris said stubbornly, reminiscing on the past encounters the group had met the former abusive trainer.

"Well, believe it. Let's see what else we have here.. Hmm... Not much actually... Wait, hold on," Misty trailed off, eyes flickering with interest as she researched on the girl. "No wonder..."

"What?"

"Dawn, you're gonna wish you didn't say what you did yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"This girl... She won 7 Grand Festivals and she's 18, which means if she had started her journey at 10, she only lost one or she didn't apply as a coordinator at that age. And that's only the Grand Festivals in Batoru." Of course, there was nothing on the page about the girl losing so Misty assumed it was the latter but decided not to voice any of those thoughts.

"No way!" A certain brunette coordinator shouted.

"What's up, May?" Her brother questioned.

"Dawn, do you remember that Grand Festival in Sinnoh - the one where we both lost to that dark type trainer?" May asked, almost painfully.

The bluenette winced, that defeat was indeed painful. It wasn't that they were being bad sports, they knew they couldn't win every contest. But it was the fact that the winner had utterly destroyed them in the battle round. She slowly nodded, wondering where her best friend was going with the reminder.

"It was Rachel."

* * *

A small distance away, two figures can be seen together; one was looking at the group curiously while the other had his, her, or its back turned. A small, yet powerful voice said,

"So ignorant, so very... Ignorant."

* * *

**TBC**

**Reviews will be greatly appreciated :)**

**Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays :)**


	2. 2: Gym Battles, Here?

**Note: So here it explains a few things on the region of Batoru.**

**Shadow1001: Thank you, Ash will come out soon. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, as well!**

**Torkoal (Guest): Thank you, I've never written battles and will try my best to make them as epic as possible.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Gym Battles, Here?**

"Apparently, Batoru's league is quite different from others. After defeating the gym leaders, you have to defeat the Elite 4 and get these things called 'Original Type Emblems'. If you collect all 4, you go on to the Battle Frontier. There used to be 9 Brains but that declined to 8 due to one asking to continue his travels. The last Brain is the Champion," Brock informed as they walked down Consia Road. Consia Road connected Oresha City and Firenshy Town, where Professor Redwood's lab and home is.

Professor Redwood was an old friend of Professor Oak's who happened to be the regional professor of Batoru. He was a intelligent man and was respected by many. Since Batoru doesn't have its own Pokemon, he rotated every year from other regions. The first year would be Kanto, then Johto, then Hoenn, and so on.

Continuing on with the facts, Brock said, "You can beat the Champion right after the Elite 4 but since so many people can't even get through the first, no has had a chance to. There is one person who defeated up to the first Brain but no one got further than that."

As the group continued to walk down Consia Road, they were amazed by the amount of Pokemon there. Tracey got instant inspiration on what to sketch, Misty was looking towards the river filled with water types, and Max and Brock were both rambling on random information on the Pokemon that caught their eyes. "The scenery gives off a splendidly beautiful taste! How divine!" Cilan gushed.

All of the sudden, from the trees came a boy with messy brown hair and matching brown eyes. He had a blue zipped up, short sleeved sweater that was black at his sides over a turquoise shirt with black sleeves. As pants, he had light gray shorts over black leggings. Upon his head and feet was a red visor and red and black sneakers with white laces. He looked around 16 years old.

He simply dropped down from a tree and stared at the group, then snorted while looking away

... And that's when Misty lost it.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" She yelled at the unnamed boy. He didn't pay any attention to her and kept on looking at the sky. It seemed as though he had found something when his eyes lit up and ran off back into the woods. The group looked off to the direction he ran off to, half annoyed and half confused at what the teen was doing.

That was when someone else came into the scene. This time, it was a girl with brown hair that was in double bun pigtails and blue eyes. She had a white shirt with baby blue sleeves and a Pokeball in the middle. Over her black leggings were loose hemmed, yellow shorts. On her head was a white and pink striped visor and on her feet were light blue sneakers with white edges and yellow laces.

Her hands were on her knees and she breathed heavily, catching her breath. She looked at the group curiously and then gasped, "You're- Oh, never mind. Have you seen a boy with abnormally spiky brown hair and brown eyes? Oh, and he probably ignored you too."

"Yes, we have, actually. Would you mind telling us what happened?" Cilan answered calmly. She hesitated but sighed and quietly muttered, "It is getting late," Before clapping her hands together and saying, "All righty!"

The group set up the camp as usual; Brock and Cilan cooked, the boys got firewood, and the girls got the tables and chairs set up. They introduced each other during the process, although rather awkward.

When everything was done, they sat down and ate silently until Tracey broke the awkwardness. "So, who are you?"

"My name is Rosa Mei, you can just call me Rosa. That boy that ran past you was Nate, Nate Kyohei, a childhood friend of mine. He's a gym leader but I guess things got out of hand during the battle. Apparently, a challenger named... What was it? Steven? Stephanie? No, it was a guy..." She trailed off, thinking intently when Iris informed her, "Was it Stephan?"

"Oh, yes! Stephan! Do you know him?"

The group nodded as she went on, "Yeah, him. I guess he misunderstood Nate's advice after he loss. To be honest, he didn't even battle the first leader, so I don't get why he would even _try_ to defeat Nate. That guy had absolutely no chance, erm, no offense. I think Stephan ran off to train but he wanted to help him, being the nice guy he is. And so here I am, looking for the idiot out of Gongordia Town. He does not understand how busy I am," The girl now known as Rosa finished with a shake of her head.

"Why are you chasing him in the first place?" Max inquired.

"Hehehe... Well, that's the thing. That guy has no sense of direction. He has lots of flying types, and that's the only reason why he _doesn't_ get lost. Without them... He's pretty much hopeless."

"Oh, I see. Well, no need to worry, you'll find him!" Dawn assured.

"Hell yeah, I will! Being the first leader, I have a lot of work with the newbies."

"About that, what do you mean by 'first gym leader'?" Gary asked.

"Oh, you're obviously not from around here. Makes sense that you don't know Nate or me. Well, as you probably know, you need 8 gym badges to apply for a tournament or the Elite Four challenge and that there are usually more than 8 gyms for each region so that the trainers actually have a better chance of getting all 8 badges," The group nodded, "The thing is; Batoru is tough. We have exactly 8 gyms. Nothing more, nothing less - not that we can have anything less. We are ranked by first, second, third and so on. Just because I'm the first doesn't mean I'm weak though! I'm not allowed to show off too much power but either way, not many people get past me. If they do it's the second leader, the third leader, and Nate's job so they _don't_ get past."

They a went wide eyed. "Your league is tough."

She scoffed, "Oh please, you should see our champion and his two right hand people. Rachel and Zack? They will utterly crush you. It wasn't even supposed to be Zack but he's still pretty strong. Our league's still pretty new, too."

Their faces dropped at the name of Paul's sister. She looked at them strangely, "What's up?"

"I tried battling her yesterday. She was tough. I don't even think she was trying." Max said with his head drooped down. After a pregnant pause of silence, Rosa went into a fit of laughter. The group looked slightly shocked and a little mad and confused.

"S-so it was y-you! S-sorry but did you just say that you tried to defeat Rachel Shinji?" Rosa asked, recovering from her fit. Max nodded slowly and she chuckled quietly.

"I'll applaud you for spirit, that's for sure. But tell me, what attacks did she use and which Pokemon?"

"Uh, Night Slash and Fire Blast on my Sceptile, then X-Scissor on Purrloin. As the final attack, she used Shadow Ball on Gallade. The only Pokemon she used was an Absol," He informed her.

"Oh, wow, no offense but she took you down hard. And you're right, she wasn't trying. You should never, ever, _ever_ challenge her Absol. Screw it, don't challenge her at all. Most of her Pokemon don't battle, they just draw or something. But don't underestimate them. They're trained just like the Pokemon that battle for her, who are stronger but still."

"Some of her Pokemon don't battle?" Misty asked the other gym leader who nodded in response.

"As you probably know, she's an artist. Most of her Pokemon were either saved by her or simply follow her because she's a strong, yet graceful and kind, trainer. She doesn't force all her Pokemon to battle, but she trains them for self-defense. Most of them don't battle, they're usually in contests or draw and paint with her."

"Oh, she seems like a very nice person if you get to know her," May thought out loud. Rosa smiled, "She really is. She was my mentor and we're only 2 years apart. I'm 16 so she's 18. She rarely gets angry but if you get her Pokemon on their bad sides, you have no idea. Ask Hilbert, a neighboring gym leader to her studio. He'll tell you about a first hand experience. Trust me, if you even so mutter a curse at her, you're safe from her but not from her Pokemon."

"Wow."

"Anyways, are you all challenging the gyms?"

"No, only Max and Gary are," Brock answered. They nodded absentmindedly and that's when both shouted, "I challenge you to a battle!"

"Eh? But I thought Gary was aiming to become a professor. You are Gary _Oak_ aren't you?" Rosa asked, emphasizing the his surname.

Gary blinked, "Well, yeah, but battling helps to learn about the different natures and abilities of Pokemon!"

She smiled, "Then I hope you can give me a battle worth battling, Professor."

* * *

Reggie drove the small, white open window car down the road towards Chrinsia Town, where Rachel's studio is. Paul sat shotgun while Rachel sat in the back with her Smeargle in her arms.

"Do they even know who we are?" Rachel asked, referring to Max and the gang.

"Apparently not. They did just get here, Rachel," Reggie assured. Paul shook his head. "They should do their research before going anywhere," He grumbled.

Rachel giggled softly, "Well, you're always welcomed back to join the 'we-never-battle-but-still-have-our-own-facilities' crew."

Paul sighed, "Maybe. I'll think about it."

"Zack's his new right hand man but I'm sure Red will put you above me. He did trust you more."

"Maybe I should come back."

"Yes! Definitely!"

Reggie chuckled at the small conversation between his two younger siblings. How great it was to be all together, after all those times of work and hardship...

He shook his head. No, he couldn't be thinking about that. It was all in the past, they were leading a good life now. Paul was looking out of the car while Rachel held up her Smeargle to talk to. Yes, they were doing fine. Leading a happy life. Well, mostly, anyways.

They were now off the road and in Chrinsia Town, heading for Rachel's studio and home.

As they neared the building, Paul observed it had slightly changed from the last time he was there. It was long and wide, distancing towards the entire block. It was no more than 1 floor, but the building was rather large to fill up an entire block. The ceiling was high for the indoor gym battles. The entire building was white, save for the windowsills that were light brown and the curtains that were a light cyan color. If you were to have a Pidgeot's eye view, the building would make out a U shape, and the ends would have a fence covering the outside for an outdoor playground.

Paul noticed a boy at the front of the studio with a Toxicroak at his side. Behind him were Pichu, Plusle, and Minun. The boy looked to be around Rachel's age, with brown hair and brown eyes. His light blue sweater was zipped up but slightly open at the bottom and it showed a black shirt underneath. He wore black jeans, red sneakers and a red cap with a black Pokeball at the center and a black bill.

He waved towards them and Rachel responded by dangerously jumping out of the car before it came to a halt and hugging the boy and crushing poor Smeargle. His face turned a bright red but quickly hugged back. When they released, he laughed, saying, "I missed you too!" The girl giggled as the three electric type Pokemon jumped on her head and shoulders.

"Thanks for taking care of them for me. They're a handful, aren't they?"

"That's for sure but you raised them well."

"Of course I did!" They laughed, "Oh, you know my brother Paul, right? And you met Reggie a few days ago." The boy nodded, saying, "Hey Paul, it's Hilbert, of course." He would have held out his hand for a shake but Hilbert wasn't the type to be to formal.

Paul nodded in recognition, being the anti-social person he was. It wasn't as if he didn't like the 'kid', he did, he was a much better trainer than 99 percent of the people he met on his journey, but Paul rarely talked. It was simply his nature.

Hilbert Kuro is 17 years old, one year younger than Rachel but his birthday was in January so they were nearly the same age. The young teen was a gym leader, the 7th one, albeit a very strong trainer. He, like almost every other guy, had a crush on her. No one could blame them, the Frontier Brain was beautiful. But being the modest (or oblivious, no one knows) girl she was, Rachel never seemed to noticed these things.

Rachel took the two boys hands with Smeargle below the Pichu on her head and exclaimed, "Let's go in!" Hilbert and Paul were dragged in as Reggie followed, chuckling to himself. When they got in, there were 3 ways to go. A short distance forwards, left, or right. The quartet went forwards which eventually led to a door.

Rachel turned the knob that led to the backyard. Outside were many different Pokemon.

Smeargle, Plusle, Minun, and Pichu jumped down to play with their friends. A Pidgeot, Swellow, Staraptor, Unfezant, and Braviary flew above the trees. Altaria, Ambipom, Roserade, Cinccino, and Pachirisu were happily in the trees. Four Eeveelutions, Umbreon, Espeon, Leafeon, and Sylveon, sat below the same tree with a Meganium, Whimsicott, Turtwig, Togekiss, Ninetails, Lopunny, white flower Florges and Arcanine.

A Furret and Delcatty were chasing each other in the middle of the large field with a Beedrill and Masquerain flying over them and Drifblim simply floating. Gardevoir and Gallade sat together on a swing, like the lovebirds they were. Houndoom and Mightyena laid down, exposed in the sunlight. Kricketune was making music and in front of him was a Lopunny and Breloom joyfully dancing with Magnezone and Spiritomb not too far them. Lucario leaned against a tree with its eyes closed and next to it was a Zoroark that was in a similar position. There was a large pool and inside was a gorgeous Milotic, four Luvdisc, a Samurott, Lapras, Azumarill, and Corsola.

Paul and Reggie's Pokemon were together, seeming to have a lively conversation. Electivire and Magmortar looked as if they were having a staring contest, Torterra was poking at Rachel's Turtwig, and Nidoking didn't look awkwardly large next to Kangaskhan, thankfully. Reggie's Bibarel seemed to relax in the pool and Swalot was walking (more like sliding) around the borders of the fences. Staraptor was flying with it's fellow flying type Pokemon.

Rachel threw three other Pokeballs into the air and strangely, out came a Darkrai and Regigigas. In the last came out a Serperior, who slithered its way back to her, wrapping itself protectively around her. The Darkrai hid itself within the shadows of the trees while the Regigigas? Well... The ultimate Regi went to garden some flowers.

Serperior hissed at Paul, who kept his stoic face, and Hilbert, who backed away considerably. Rachel, who was still nearly immobile due to her grass type serpent, soothed the Pokemon with a gentle pat on the head. This particular grass type didn't trust humans, or Pokemon for that matter. But he had a heart, and Rachel never gave up on him. This eventually led to him opening up to the girl and joining her in the studio.

Most of the Pokemon were rescued by Rachel herself. They had their individual stories; some were abused and others were simply in trouble. None the less, Rachel showed love to all the Pokemon.

"I'm going to see Red tomorrow. Wanna come Paul?"

He smirked at his younger sister saying, "Of course. I have to see a if that idiot is at least doing his job."

"Than lets go see your old rival, shall we?"

* * *

**TBC**

**Reviews will be greatly appreciated!**

**Please, please, _please_ review; I can't exactly continue the story without any inspiration...**


	3. 3: Conditions

**Note: Our main character finally reveals himself.**

**NY514: I'll consider Rayshipping, as Cynthia will appear sometime soon.**

**Kkawa1: The wait is over.**

**XxStarLovers (Guest): Thank you!**

**Lots of dialogue here.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Conditions**

**Batoru Pokemon League Office, Top Floor, 12:30 PM**

A young man sat on one of the four gray couches in his office, contemplating what to do for the upcoming tournament. Not many trainers could finish the 8 badge challenge and those who did could never get past the first Elite. Every year, there was only about one to, if lucky, four trainers who went on to the Elite Four challenge. Of course, Leaf had to ruin it for them and destroy their team with just her Venusaur.

Sighing in frustration, he leaned back in his chair and thought about what to do. The man had changed; his once untamable black hair was now brushed neatly downwards. The once caring brown eyes became a cold mahogany, almost red and his left eye was covered by his bangs. He wore a black t-shirt under a red sweater with white colored short sleeves and blue jeans. Upon his head, feet, and hands were adorned with a red and white cap, black sneakers, and black fingerless gloves.

Now, back to the tournament. It wasn't as though he wanted his league to lose to the trainers, oh Arceus no. But maybe the Leaders, Elites and Brains were a bit _too_ overwhelming and overpowering. He couldn't have any weakling trainers battling in his tournament, though. What to do, what to do?

As he thought about the situation, a knock came through the door, followed by a man who bowed and spoke, "Champion Red, Ms. Shinji is here to see you." The said man, now known as Red, nodded unemotionally once and the other man left his office.

The two doors to the office went swinging open (hitting the wall) and the next thing he knew, he was tackled by a girl and another Pokemon.

"Rachel?" He softly asked, noticing the lilac hair. The girl looked up and grinned happily. He then noticed a yellow mouse Pokemon on her head. "Pikachu?"

"Pika pika, pikapi chu pikachu!"

"I'm sorry I forgot," Red quietly apologized.

"Nice to see you again," He heard by the doorway. Walking towards the three were Reggie and Paul, whom Red slightly raised an eyebrow at.

"Reggie? Paul?"

"We came with our sister. Paul had something to offer."

"Oh." By then, Rachel was now next to the champion, sitting on the gray couch. Pikachu was on her lap, snuggling with the fabric of her black vest.

Paul and his brother sat down across from them before stating, "I heard Zack took my place after I left." Red merely nodded in response and let Paul continue, "Well, I was thinking, maybe he and I could have a battle." The purple haired trainer said, not asking at all and more so commanded.

"I don't know if he's free, he might be helping Professor Redwood with the Evolution Expedition." Red shrugged nonchalantly.

Reggie tilted his head, "Evolution Expedition?"

Rachel intercepted then, "Yeah! He told me something about that! Something about a fourth evolution for chosen Pokemon. Korrina and Professor Sycamore from Kalos, Professor Elm from Johto, and Professor Rowan from Sinnoh are coming over to look over the expedition as well. Korrina and Professor Sycamore know a little more than the Professor on mega evolutions, that's what they call it for now, and Professor Elm and Rowan are evolution specialists."

_Wait, and he's allowing them to come here? Especially Elm and Rowan... _Paul wouldn' admit it, but he was curious as to why _Red _would be all right with the fact that people from his... past were even stepping foot on Batoru. _Not that I should be talking. _

"Zack says he's helping out with the planning and his grandfather back at Firenshy Town. He's not sure whether or not he's taking place in the actual expedition, though." Red finished. Then he thought, _I just realized that Zack might not be present for the tournament either, dang it. _

"Actually, I might help out too…" The only girl in the room trailed off. The three males stared at her, "What?"

Rachel scratched her head, "Haha, well, it totally slipped out of my head but… Professor Redwood needs Lucario and Hilbert's Gengar for some reason." They all resisted the urge to face palm. "How could you forget that?" Paul asked rhetorically. She simply shrugged but then her eyes lit up, "Ah, and the rest of the Elite Four, too!"

"By when, Rachel?" The Champion inquired.

"Tomorrow at 10 o' clock, AM."

"So I guess you guys are going to Firenshy Town with Hilbert, right?" They nodded.

"May I follow along?"

Reggie nodded once more, "We have space in the car, sure."

_Would he know...? Would he want to know? If he knew they were here... He's still pretty dense. Smart, but dense, _Paul reflected on the meeting with the pathetic wannabe trainers. He eyed Red, who was nodding or shaking his head to Reggie's questions. _He's still the same stupid... Kid. _

* * *

**Consia Road, 12:47 PM**

"Tyranitar, go!"

"Let's do this, Blastoise!"

From one side came out a large, green Armor Pokemon and on the other came a blue Shellfish Pokemon. The former was around a foot larger than the latter and neither looked fazed by the intensity of each other's glares.

Gary looked as ready as ever whilst Rosa frowned _slightly. _"Okay, then, you call the first move," She shouted from across the field.

"You're going to regret that! Blastoise, Aqua Tail!" With the command, a ring of water appeared from the water type's tail and was swung for release. "Ice Beam, the Hyper Beam! Make this a show, Tyranitar!" From the other's mouth came a beam of ice that did not go straight for Blastoise, but for the ring of water. Quickly after, a new beam of light came from the ground giant's mouth, going straight _through _the ring and hitting Blastoise.

Eyes wide open (which was rather a stupid thing to do) the spectators, tried to find either Pokemon in the thick cloud of dust. Iris stared, and with her observant eyes, she saw both Pokemon still standing. For Tyranitar, it was a given, he wasn't exactly hit. However, Blastoise probably didn't see that Hyper Beam coming. _But it was still standing. _

"Eh... Wow, I didn't imagine your Blastoise to be so strong. Not many can withstand that attack, you know."

"Heh, well I'm not like most people. And neither is Blastoise; Hydro Pump!"

"Substitute!"

The gush of water that escaped Shellfish Pokemon's mouth hit _a_ Tyranitar... But not _the _Tyranitar. There was a small scratch on it's belly, proving it did some damage, but not much.

"Okay, Tyranitar, use Stone Edge!" Rosa called out to her Pokemon. From multiple sides around the field, broken fragments o rocks nearly hit the opponent. "Bulldoze!" The normal Tyranitar stomped rapidly on the ground, creating a shock wave that crashed towards Blastoise, who was trapped by the shaking on the ground. "Stone Edge!"

"Blastoise!" Gary rushed over to his fallen Pokemon, "You did great, bud, take a good rest." Then he glared at Rosa, "That Stone Edge could have beaten Blastoise, why'd you have to use Bulldoze?"

"Because," She smiled knowingly, "Stone Edge only has an 80% accuracy rate, and I saw it wouldn't hit. By confusing Blastoise, and not allowing you to give a command, I had to quickly use _something_. Besides, Bulldoze has a 100% accuracy rate, perfection is what we league leaders look for."

* * *

**Firenshy Town, 12:45 PM **

"You know, Grandpa, I _really _want to come along," A 13 year old girl with hip-long black hair and pleading, amethyst eyes said, _"Please!" _A man with gray-white hair who sat on a green comforter sighed and ruffled her messy, wavy hair while saying, "You know you can't do that, Jacelyn."

'Jacelyn' wore a plain red hoodie over a white tank top, black skinny jeans, and dirty, white sneakers. Adorning her neck was a studded collar and on her right ear was a small hoop earring. She had pale, _pale _skin along with a skinny body.

"My name is Jay! Jeez, it's just some stupid cave," The girl huffed and then cried, "Uwah!" A taller, 19 year old boy, standing at 6 feet (while she was around 5"1), pressed his hand down on her head. He had the same black hair and dark purple eyes but wore a black sweater with fire patterns over a black undershirt. Dark blue jeans and black sneakers were also a part of his outfit.

"Stop bothering Gramps, Jay," The boy advised, ruffling her already messy hair, "He's going to get annoyed."

"No, not until he says I can go! Zaaaaaaack, lemme go~" Giving her best puppy eyes, she looked at the now announced Zack.

"I agree with Gramps, you shouldn't go; it's not safe, Jay."

"Oi, c'mon, bro, it'll be fun! And get your hand off my head!" The girl forcefully jabbed at his side and gave a goofy grin at her brother's pain.

"Ugh, you still can't go."

"You still can't go," She mocked back.

"Jay."

"Jay."

"I'm warning you," He said, playfully smirking with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, jeez. But don't come back crying to me when your expedition fails cause I wasn't there!" Sticking out her tongue, she ran out of the living room.

"And why are _you _here, my boy?" The older man inquired the younger. Zack shrugged before answering, "How's the planning?"

"Fine, fine. I really should not have become a professor, though."

Professor Redwood wore a white collared shirt tucked into beige trousers, and over everything he wore a professional lab coat. He drank tea from an expensive china cup and looked to be carefully analyzing something.

"You sound like you regret it. And that you 10 years older than you really are."

"Do I? I'm 52, now, young man; not in the 60s yet. I do not regret this job, it brings excitement in life, after all."

Zack stared at his grandfather, "Are you letting Rachel go to the expedition?"

"Without her, I don't think we'll be able to face anything inside anywhere, my boy."

* * *

**TBC **

**I humbly apologize for the short chapter.**

**Reviews will be greatly appreciated.**

**Again, please review, it helps so much and it helps to make sure this story is in a good progress.**


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